Headquarters South East (HQSE) Military Skills Competition 2026

The Military Skills Competition is held every year, with CCF cadets from HQSE competing against each other in real-life challenges that focus on military skills: navigation, Communication Information Systems (CIS), fieldcraft, first aid and leadership.

The event is highly competitive and tests a contingent’s ability to put the skills learnt in weekly training in to practice in a high-pressured, competitive environment.

Competing teams are typically made up of around ten cadets, who are scored on their speed, accuracy and leadership abilities. The different challenges include:

• Fieldcraft skills, including section attacks and ambush drills

• Skills at arms: weapon handling safety and marksmanship tests

• First aid scenarios

• Navigation skills such as map reading, nighttime navigation and radio voice procedures

• Command tasks

• Drill and turnout to assess a contingent’s discipline and teamwork

The Results Are In…

The event showcases the very best of the CCF syllabus by highlighting the practical skills taught in detail during weekly parade nights as well as emphasising the importance of teamwork and camaraderie between the cadets.

It was a brilliant weekend with tough competition from 17 CCF contingents taking part. Taking the crown this year were Tonbridge School CCF who performed exceptionally!

The runners up were as follows:

• 2nd Place: Sevenoaks School CCF

• 3rd Place: Sutton Valence School CCF

• 4th Place: Maidstone Grammar School CCF

• 5th Place: Folkestone School for Girls CCF

Putting Key (Mil) Skills into Practice

The Military Skills competition is key in the development of young people. As well as providing a fun, adventurous experience for cadets, they also give cadets the opportunity to put their leadership, teamwork and resilience skills they’ve learnt into practice. Competitions like this help to encourage a positive mindset, and foster problem-solving skills in a collaborative approach. All of these are vital life skills that can benefit cadets in the future.

We’d like to wish Tonbridge School CCF a huge congratulations on winning this year’s CCF Military Skills 2026 competition. Your determination and grit throughout the competition was incredible. Well done to everyone who took part, we’re looking forward to next year’s event already!